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Summary of Events * Sir Bar Introduces Leander * Sir Rhodri Is Absent Attending To Religious Affairs; Lady Jenna Is Not Impressed * Sir Aeron Challenges Sir Lycus To A Duel For The Honour Of Sir Aeron's Lovers; This Time He Loses * Sir Elad Duels Leander When He Questions Leanders Credentials As A Warrior; Leander Loses, But Earns Elad's Respect * The War With Cornwall Is A Non-Event; Duke Goloris Swears Fealty When Excalibur Is Presented * King Uther Pendragon And Merlin Charge The Knights With A Quest; They Miss Saxon Raids But Will Instead Act As Ambassadors * The Knights Visit The Cambrian Kingdom Of Cantref Gwaelod In Terrible Weather; Sir Geriant Leads The Entourage * King Gwyddno Garanhir Is Drunk; Sir Seithenin Is Hospitable; Queen Tryamor Pleads She Is Captive And Asks To Be Freed By Force * Sir Madog Is Bribed With Money; Leander Is Bribed With Lust; But The Mission Is To Secure Troops, Not Meddle In Politics * Sir Aeron Can't Stay Quiet And The Knights Reveal Tryamor's Intrigues * The King Rewards The Knights For Their Honesty With Treasures And A Letter Asserting Their Honour * Earl Roderick Also Has Rewards - Promises Of Marriage In The Future Of Sir Geriant, Hints For Sir Elad As To How To Succeed, And To Leander He Adds The Magic Word "Sir" * Lady Indeg Knows She Can Trust Herself In Sir Leander's Company Without A Chaperone... Details Spring Court At Sarum And Cirencester * Sir Bar introduces Leander, an outrageously dressed Frank, who has been his guest since last year. * Leander Implies He May Have Abandoned Frankland Rather Than Stay On The Losing Side At Bayeux (And as a seventh son, he wasn't due to inherit anytime soon.) * Sir Lycus and Sir Aeron duel yet again when Lycus bad-mouths the peasants Aeron insists on making pregnant: this time, Sir Aeron comes out worse and is unhorsed. * Leander meets the rich, widowed and rich Lady Indeg and the two immediately begin flirting. * Sir Geriant and Sir Elad entertain their amor''s - Lady Gwiona and Adwen respectively - and keep them happy, though the Earl's permission for marriage remains elusive. * Sir Rhodri Is Absent: Lady Jenna is in her new dress with French lace and in a foul mood. * Earl Roderick explains that Sir Rhodri is back at the monastery he grew up on - Sir Madog tries to make things better with Lady Jenna. * Royal Court is at Cirencester in Gloucester, on the Logres/Cambrian border. King Uther prepares for war with Cornwall and many vassal lords have turned up, but with few men. * Leander's capabilities as a warrior are questioned by Sir Elad who believes him nothing more than a fur-coat clad ganymede - a duel is called by Leander. ** Leander strips down to his proper fighting gear - the same chainmail and sword combination as the Logres knights favour. His courser is clad in purple ribbons, as garish as it's rider. He seems much more comfy with sword than lance, though, unlike the often spear-using Cymri. ** Leander's first blows strike powerfully on the mighty Sir Elad, with even his giant form rattling at their strength. ** Elad realises he's underestimated his foe and goes on the counter-attack, winning out over the Frank. ** Elad offers Leander the chance to yield when he has the upper hand but Leander seems to proud to stop. ** Leander is knocked unconscious. Though the winner of the duel, Elad concedes that Leander has proven himself a true warrior with his battle and asks if he will join them in Rhodri's place at Cornwall. Cornwall & The Truce Of Excalibur * King Uther takes his army to Somerset to meet Duke Goloris. * The Cornish army is large, a body of knights supported by archers - even if Uther wins the fight, it will be a bloody one with many losses. * The final attempt at parley is made. ''"One land, one king!" bellows Uther. "Justice!" is Goloris' reply. * At Merlin's insistence, Uther presents Excalibur which shines like the sun and makes the Cornish quiver in fear. * Uther and Goloris come to an agreement - Goloris will swear fealty to Uther and Uther will let him continue to rule Cornwall. * The two armies camp and drink together, the scheduled war now cancelled. * The next day, Cornwall departs and Uther orders his army to go north to Lindsey to battle King Octa and his Saxons. * Uther and Merlin have a different mission for Sir Geriant and his friends, though - they are to travel to Cantref Gwaelod as ambassadors of Uther to try to obtain an alliance against the Saxons next year. The Mission To Cantref Gwaelod * The Knights ride through Cameliard, with King Uther's seal granting them safe passage. (King Leodegrance is a long-time ally of Uther.) * The weather turns foul as they reach Cantref Gwaelod - the rain hammers down, lightning cracks and a chill passes through the summer air. * A mysterious hag turn up to warn of heroes who try to rescue the captive Queen Tryamor, then vanishes with a thunderclap - not unlike Merlin did before... * The knights ride across the dike to the Tower of the Sea, the court of Cantref Gwaelod. The sea level is higher than the land here, and the choppy waters look menacing. * The first night of the visit goes smoothly. ** King Gwyddno Garanhir is hospitable but a drunkard, falling asleep after quaffing wine from Troy. He refuses to talk business during the welcome feast. ** His loyal knight Sir Seithenin carries the King to sleep ** The Queen is in good spirits and discusses the treasures the knights have claimed in their battles. Sir Madog in particular speaks avariciously of the treasures of Bayeux. ** The Queen retires. Before bed, the knights of Salisbury and Cantref Gwaelod have a drinking contest... but it is Leander who triumphs, drinking the lot of them under the table. Only Sir Geriant refrains, trying to stay clear headed for his responsibilities as leader of the mission. ** In the night, a handmaiden comes for Sir Madog and takes him to Queen Tryamor, who pleads that she is a captive. She will exchange the greatest treasure of the king, The Cup of Ogmios - a golden cup clad in pearls said to be worth the ransom of ten knights. * The second day sees suspicion and frustration grow. ** Sir Madog confesses his secret conversation. The knights are confused - can the king truly be a villain, and can they say anything without jeopardising the wishes of their king? ** Sir Seithenin takes the knights out with him on patrol. They check on the sea defences, which are weakened by the bad weather and need reparing. ** On an afternoon hunt, Sir Aeron demonstrates his skill with birds using one of the king's falcons to catch a mink. ** The King is still coy about talking business at the second feast - perhaps because his kingdom is known for isolationism, but perhaps he just really likes to quaff. ** When the King is once again taken away asleep the Queen turns conversation to chastity and adultery. Geriant, Madog and Elad argue in favour of matrimony - Leander and Aeron are much less so. ** That night, Leander is visited by a handmaiden - Tryamor once again pleads for assistance, claiming that drunk on the Wine of Noah her husband can be killed. She also claims to have never let him have her favours and that she will submit to Leander totally if he does her bidding. * The third day, things come to a head. ** Leander speaks of Tryamor's counsel. ** The weather is getting even worse. Despite that the knights ride out with Seithenin again to try and find out their chances of securing Uther's alliance. ** The third meal is held. The King talks a little of offering goods but says his knights will not ride out in battle for other kings. ** The king's bard plays the tale of The Knight of the Swan; a knight who was tested with drink, lust and treasure but kept to honour and hospitality to win his bride free of another man. ** Leander, on cue, asks for the Wine of Noah. He doesn't plan to kill the king, but it wouldn't hurt to try the wine, would it?.... ** The wine is truly great. Sir Seithenin will not let his lord drink it, though, and finishes the glass. This knocks him unconscious but keeps his lord awake. ** Sir Aeron can hold his peace no longer and speaks of Tryamor's scheming. Leander and Madog vouch for him. ** King Gwyddno will take the words of knights as proof and confronts his wife, who admits she schemed against him. ** If men of Logres are honest in face of danger, the King believes they are good men and will reconsider their request for aid. The knights are also rewarded personally: *** To Elad, Aeron and Geriant come furs worth £2. *** To Madog, for resisting the lure of treasure - a "lesser" gold cup to the Cup of Ogmios, but still worth £25. *** To Leander, for resisting the lure of lust - a charger and a letter vouching for his character as a man who can be trusted with women. **** The other knights are as surprised as you, the reader, are at this. Winter Court & The Harvest * The King talks boldly. Next year Logres will march united against the Saxons and will defeat them! * The Earl thanks his servants for their work at Cantref Gwealod. ** In particular, he praises Leander for his personal vouching from King Gwyddno - and if he's good enough for a king, he's good enough for the Earl! He knights the Frank Sir Leander and makes him a Household Knight of Sarum. * Earl Roderick is asked by both Sir Elad and Sir Geriant about their marriage chances. ** Lady Gwiona is not in great demand so with just a year or two of heroism the Earl may permit Sir Geriant to marry her and take her dowry of two manors. ** Lady Adwen's more substantial dowry presents a problem to the Earl - he can't make Elad a Knight Banneret when he's less than thirty! If he wishes this grand prize, he will need to do something truly extraordinary. * The newly Sir Leander speaks to Indeg of his letter vouching for his character.... and since he has that, she flirtatious agrees to spend some time alone with him, since obviously nothing untoward could happen... * The knights return to their homes for winter. ** Sir Aeron's mother remarries, with his blessing. A fire accidentally starts in his manor - his falcons perish and the grain stores are damaged, so it is a hard year on Berwick St James. *** But unknown to Sir Aeron, one of the servants at court dies in childbirth to a baby he gave unto her. ** Sir Elad starts work on an apiary and hires a lawyer to assist him in courtly duties. He takes in his brother even though a murder charge has been proven against him by commoners. ** Sir Geriant must cast out a cousin from the family who converts religion away from Christianity. ** Sir Madog has a good year, with year yet another large charger bred on his manor. His mother passes away, having never been the same since his father died. However, another child is born of his wife, this time a daughter. ** Sir Rhodri's manor is well-run in his absence; but his surviving sister is cursed by a Faerie. ** Sir Leander enjoys his first winter as a Household Knight. Category:Years